Comments From The Peanut Gallery: September 2005

Dutch witch to get tax breaks for magical training - Yahoo! News

(insanity)

Religious groups shouldn't be exempt from tax.

Russian admiral named patron saint of nuclear bomber force - Yahoo! News

(link)

Now that's the kind of Christianity I can get behind.

O'Reilly wished that hurricane had flooded U.N. ..

(link)

How... Christian of him to suggest that...

More proof of the liberal media bias, I guess.

The Faces of the Liberal Media

(link)

ABC News: Amid Katrina Chaos, Congressman Used National Guard to Visit Home

Senate Kills Bid for Katrina Commission - Yahoo! News

(link)

What's wrong with an independent bipartisan panel?

Bush Suspends Minimum Wage

Seriously?

Exponential Disaster

"Reduce Political Damage": That's shifting the blame, for those untutored in Politski.

If America can't handle the disaster, maybe Canada can? After all, they actually a functioning government...

No, you can't leave, there's a disaster here. This story sounds crazy... is it really true?

Talking Heads Must Die

God, I hate the morning "newspinion" shows Today and Sunrise. They are full of themselves and just act like idiots generally, but who I really hate are there talking heads. I have no idea who they are, but they seem to have no idea about anything, especially when they were talking about Hurricane Katrina. They were saying that the people who stayed in New Orleans could have got out and should have got out, but chose not too. You know, they didn't really have that much warning, and New Orleans is one of the poorest cities in America. If you're living in a slum, you might not have a car or television. If you're a tourist in a hotel, you probably don't have access to transportation out of New Orleans. If you are homeless, you definitely don't. They could't leave. And this guy who is on the telly thinks he is so much better than them because he is saying they should have got out on themselves.

Then he says people are silly for expecting the Australian government to aid Australians trapped in New Orleans... hello? That is what consulates are for... helping our citizens.

Then they say it's silly to play the blame game. The New Orleans disaster was handled inappropriately. Some people are at fault. I think it is perfectly fair to blame people. Though I'm not going to point the finger at anyone, I'm going to say that the American emergency and disaster response services need a big upgrade. This should be one place where both everyone can agree that government spending is not just a good idea, but a neccessity.

Whatever: Being Poor

[link]

No, I'm not poor, I don't know what it's like to be poor... partially because in Australia, there are a hell of a lot less people at this kinda poverty level.

But this is the reason why I support free healthcare and government support for those struck by poverty. Did you know that the American health system costs, on average, about $5,000/year per American, where as the Canadian system costs about $2,000/year per Canadian, and it provides health care to *all*, not just those who can afford it. What *constantly* struck me when in America was the amount of people with bad teeth, because they couldn't or once couldn't afford the dentist. In Australia, we don't have that. That's because we have government funded healtcare. In America, you go north of the 49th parallel and suddenly you're suprised when everyone has a bright white smile.

So, if you want to condemn people to misery because they can't afford to pay $5,000 a year in health insurance, you should rethink your position. It's not a rhetorical question. This isn't a philosophical debate about whether government is good or bad in abstact situations. This is about people's lives.